This Day in Reds History: It’s September….

September 27, 1898: Jake Beckley (read more from September 25), handles a record 22 chances at first base in one game, with 21 put outs, one assist, and no errors to set a major league record in a win over the Cleveland Spiders. Beckley holds the major league record for career putouts at first base.

September 27, 1924: Thirty-one year old rookie Pedro Dibut (3 – 0) hurls the Reds to a 10 – 1 win over the Cardinals. Except for a brief relief appearance next year, it’s the only major league appearance for the Cuban, who played in the Negro Leagues for the Cuban Giants (West) before the Reds. He sets a oft-tied National League record for most wins without a loss in a career, a mark that will be eclipsed by Ben Shields (4 – 0 in two leagues).

September 27, 1963: John Tsitouris shuts out the St. Louis Cardinals for the second consecutive game in his last two starts of the season as the Reds win the game, 3-0. In his last three games of the season, Tsitouris pitches three consecutive complete games, allowing eight hits, one run, walks five, and strikes out 17 to improve his seasonal record to 12-8 with a 3.16 ERA.

Tsitouris entered these three starts with a career 15-13 record over parts of six seasons. The lefty had the best stretch of his career defeating the Chicago Cubs, 3-1, and the Cardinals, 1-0 and 3-0. Tsitouris had one of other large notable Reds game; he came within one pitch of combining with Jim Maloney for a no-hitter on April 18, 1964. Maloney had held the Los Angeles Dodgers hitless through six innings before leaving the game. Tsitouris pitched 2 2/3 innings of relief before walking Ron Fairly and allowing a Frank Howard two-strike, two-out infield single.

Tsitouris pitched in 11 different major league seasons, finishing his career 34-38 with a 4.13 ERA. In seven seasons with the Reds, he was 29-33 with a 3.83 ERA.

September 27, 1964: The Reds move into first place as they sweep the New York Mets, 4-1 and 3-1 in a doubleheader. With the wins, the Reds move one game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies and 1 1/2 games over the St. Louis Cardinals with five games left to play.

The Reds won the first game behind the pitching of lefty Jim O’Toole who allowed five hits and one walk in eight plus innings to improve his record to 17-7. In the second game, the Reds scored three runs in the top of the first inning and starting pitcher Joey Jay made that stand with a five-hit complete game for the Reds.

September 27, 1973: The Reds suspend outfielder Bobby Tolan. From “Redleg Journal” by Greg Rhodes and John Snyder:

“The Reds suspend Bobby Tolan for insubordination. The suspension was the result of several incidents involving Tolan, including scuffles with members of the club’s front office staff, teammates, and opposing players. He also went AWOL for two days in August, and began growing a beard against club policy.”

Tolan also was a challenger to baseball’s reserve clause. From baseball-reference.com’s bullpen:

Tolan almost became the test case against the reserve clause. He and Sparky Lyle were both playing the 1974 season without signing contracts. The San Diego Padres and New York Yankees respectively renewed their contracts under the reserve clause while the players held out for a better contract. Lyle signed a two-year deal on the last day of the season (for 1974-1975). Tolan didn’t sign and the Player’s Union filed two grievances on October 17. The first was for a clarification of the reserve clause, the second was for Tolan, and requested his free agency, on the grounds that the reserve clause was only for one year. On December 9, the Padres announced an agreement with Tolan for two years (1974-1975), before an arbitrator could make a ruling. Both grievances were dropped.

September 27, 1998: In the Reds’ 4-1 victory over Pirates, two sets of brothers appear in the same lineup for the first time in major league history. Stephen Larkin plays first, Bret Boone is at second, Barry Larkin is at short and Aaron Boone plays third making up the all-brother infield. Aaron Boone’s 3 – run homer gives Brett Tomko (13 – 12) the complete game victory. Stephen Larkin is a career minor leaguer with a pacemaker and had a new one installed in August after his old one had a hiccup. Stephen hit .228 with three home run and 31 RBI in 80 games with the AA Chattanooga Lookouts this year. (from baseball-reference.com bullpen)